Last month, the Vancouver Biennale listed a piece of art for sale.
The sculpture, by late Israeli-American artist Boaz Vaadia, is a bronze cast of carved and stacked layers of stone made to look like "humanoid" figures.
Vaadia would use slate, shingles, bluestone, and boulders salvaged from construction sites around New York to build his sculptures and only a few editions were used to create the bronze molds.
“I work with nature as an equal partner...That’s still the strongest thing I deal with today, that primal connection of man to Earth. It’s in the materials I use, the environments I make and the way I work,” he once said of his process.
A patina applied to the bronze chemically changes the material to resemble the colour of the original material so the viewer thinks that it’s made from natural stone.
Vaadia’s work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, among other renowned private and public collections so it was big news when it was announced this week that a major commercial real estate firm partnered with the Vancouver Biennale and Downtown Van to bring the piece to the heart of the city.
The work, "Ammi'el & Amaryahu," will reside at the downtown office building Arthur Erickson Place as public art.
“It's very gratifying to be working with partners who appreciate the importance of public art,” says Miriam Blume, Director of Vancouver Biennale in a recent press release. “We can’t underestimate the value, both personal and economic, to Instagram-worthy destinations. Public art has proven time and again to be great for business and great for improving the overall liveability of a city.”
She calls the business sector of Vancouver, where the art will be on display, an integral patron of public art.
The art is now available to view at 1075 W Georgia St.
